Toolholding & Workholding

Christopher Tate shares the key elements of selecting a toolholder that will help drive efficiency and improve your shop's bottom line.

SCHUNK has introduced several improvements on the original PGN-Plus and has announced the newest generation gripper, PGN-Plus-P. Enlarged supporting dimensions between the six load-bearing shoulders of the multiple-tooth guidance allow higher moment capacity, which can accommodated longer fingers and greater loads.

Whether a fixture is hydraulic, pneumatic or mechanical, or whether it's built internally or subcontracted to others, it's important to understand your true costs and to consider workholding early in the part-design process.

BIG KAISER Precision Tooling Inc. held its Breakfast & Learn 2018 open house May 8-10 at its headquarters in Hoffman Estates, Ill. Each day include a technical presentation. On the third day, John Zaya, workholding product manager for BIG KAISER, covered multiple-axis, quick-change workholding systems.

The SCHUNK Vero-S Aviation product line is designed to rigidly clamp large parts accurately, and through its unique design enable the user to release the part enough to allow the part to move (compensate) due to the stresses of machining without fully releasing the part. Therefore, the clamp/unclamp and reclamping of the stress relieved part can be done in under a minute without losing the established primary reference datums.

A full line of shaft collars, mounting collars and sleeve couplings that provide highly accurate working surfaces and mar-free clamping has been introduced by Stafford Manufacturing Corp.

Kurt DoveLock master jaws are designed to be installed in replacement of standard cap screw jaws and create a quick-change capability. Once the DoveLock master jaws are installed into the vise they perform as a receiver for the replaceable jaws and are installed or removed by loosening three quick clamps in the top of each master jaw.

Mitee-Bite Products has just completed a new Kit for the TITANS of CNC Academy, helping to educate in the Art of Fixturing Series. In the kit, students will receive multiple Mitee-Bite clamps, pins and grips to build Titan's Project Series #400-404 fixtures.

Fixtureworks has introduced its new lineup of ring-handle detent pins in steel and stainless steel. Detent pins provide a secure, quick, easy and positive engagement for fastening, locating and alignment applications. They are ideal for applications that require frequent, repetitive use. The pins, with ring handle, work within commercial drill tolerances, and their spring-loaded ball retracts when inserted or removed.

Kitagawa NorthTech Inc. announces its suite of automotive industry workholding solutions, which bundles together advanced and custom engineered workholding products for automotive industry machining applications. The advanced workholding series are Kitagawa NorthTech advanced chucks and custom fixtures that have been engineered, modified and/or customized to solve part specific machining for a myriad of automotive industry applications, including camshafts, valves, cylinder pumps and heads, differential cases, brackets, clutches, covers, holders, gears, hubs, pinions, pulleys, rotors, rollers, pistons, and chassis components.

Kurt's new line of motorized air vises utilize air-powered motors to provide consistent preset clamping force and programmable vise opening if desired. These vises are suitable for automated, robotized cells and applications requiring consistent clamping not easily attained by manual operation.

Floating clamps from Carr Lane Mfg. Co. are position-flexible swing clamps with 110° rotation that both clamp and support the workpiece. Suitable for aerospace machining, floating clamps are especially useful for clamping forgings, ribbed or flanged castings, and other larger parts.